Welted knit fabric and method of making the same.



R. W. SPOTT.

WELTED KNIT FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7, 1914.

1,1 1 3,166. Patented Oct: 6, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

R. W. SCOTT. WELTED KNIT FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7, 1914.

Patented 0013.6, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHHET 2.

- and useful Improvements in method as practised on UNITED STATES PATENT oFrrcE'.

ROBERT W. SCOTT, 0F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB T0 SCOTT 6t WILLIAMS,

INCORPORATED, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS,

Specification of Letters ratent.

A conronarron or new JERSEY,

' WELTED KNIT FABRIC AN ID METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

Patented Oct. 6, 1914.

Application filed March 7, 1914. Serial no. 823,121.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT W. Soon, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new Welted Knit Fabrics and Methods of Making the Same, of which the following is' a specification.

My invention relates to knit fabrics ha ving welts or heme and especially to plain knit articles having outturned welts of the general character illustrated in my Patents 1,045,620, November 26, 1912 and 1;079,267, November 18, 1913, and to the art of making such fabrics.

One object of my invention is to provide a welt for an article of this class having a texture like that of the attached fabric and a juncture or union between the welt proper and the attached fabric of improved appearance and durability, which can be made by simple steps, such as can be practised by hand operated or automatic machinery.

Figure 1 is a side View of a stocking illustrating one type of my improved article; Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating steps of the one type of circular machine; Fig. 3 is a diagram of or face side of the fabric at the juncture of the welt; Fig. 4 is a view like Fig. 3 showing a modification; Fig. 5 is a section through a Wale a of Fig. 3.

My improved article may be composed of flat oi tubular fabric having therein needle wales a and b, separated by the usual sinkerwales. For one instance, I may provide an integral welt W and top T for a circular knit or seamless stocking as shown in Fig. 1, having a leg L and foot F, and a heel and toe of usual form, the leg L consisting of fabric of any desired number of needle-wales in width, the top T having therein fewer needle-wales, and the welt W having as many needle wales as the top.

My new article is of the genus illustrated by my said patents, comprising plain fabric having a welt or welts of which the back or loop side is outward, the face or wale side lying within a tubular fold continuous with that part of the article to which it, is attached, certain loops at or near the beginning of the welt being withheld upon the needles, and subsequently attached where the welt fabric joins the article, by loops engaging the withheld loops, a course of such the front loops being hereinafter referred to as a unit: lng course. One form of the welt of the earher Patent No.- 1,045,620 has as many walesas the attached part ofthe article, the

.withheld loops for uniting the beginning of the welt being theinitial loops of all the needle wales of the welt, which wales are cont nuous with needle miles of the body fabric. My later Patent #1,079,267 disclosed an article having withheld uniting loops occurring neither in the needle wales of the welt fabric nor the initial course thereof, but in sinker wales of the welt fabric corresponding to recurrent needlesinoperative during knitting of the welt, said recurrent. needles again operating together with the needles employed for the welt, to knit the uniting course and the attached part of the article, so that the needle wales of the welt were all continuous with needle wales of attached fabric having ther'ein'as many more wales as there were withheld or unitmg loops.

Referring now to Fig. 3 I retain the ad vantages of both of said patented construe tions by providing a welt W having as many needle wales a as the attached fabric T has Wales I), the Withheld loops to being provided in needle wales corresponding to the Wales I) of fabric T, which wales I) stand between and correspond to the sinker-wales between wales a of the welt fabric V. The withheld loops 'w are engaged and attached to the wales b of the fabric 'T by a uniting course Z having initial loops a penetrating the loops w in all of the wales b and having loops 9 in all of the wales a. The loops y of the course Z engage the final course as 225 of the welt fabric, which consists of needle loops in the wales a only, corresponding to the sinker-wales between the loops in the wales b of the fabric T.

In order to prevent the lateral strain'upon the unitin course Z from withdrawing the loops y rom engagement with the last course, such as 28, of the welt fabric in the wales a I may provide in the wales a a course 00 of locking loops, which may be thrust forward into engagement with the fabric T. The course :0 may be followed by a similar course 00 Said courses w and :0 together constitute a strip of locking fabric X, projecting from the juncture formed by the uniting course Z on the inside or back of the fabric, for instance within the tubular top of the illustrative seamless stocking, the free end loops of said locking fabric beingunder frictional restraint by reason of their assage through the sinker-wales of su sequently formed courses of fabric T.

The structure of the first few courses 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. of the welt may be substantially that shown in my said Patent 1,079,267, comprising for instance a course 1 taken by the needles employed to knit the wales a and passing atthe back of the needles emloyed to knit the wales b,- a course 2 taken E the needles A and B employed to knit t e wales a, and b, the needles B for the wales b retiring at this point in the operation to withhold the loops w, during the knitting of courses 3, 4, etc. of sutficient fabric for the welt upon the needles A only, the sinker wales of said fabric knit upon the needles A passing'over the heads of the needles B during such times as the loops at: are to be withheld. It is obvious that the welt may be begun in any manner, so long as a course from which loops to may be Withheld isprovided. This course, for instance, may be as shown the second course of fabric beginning at a selvage 1, or it may be any course in an extent of fabric the previous part of which will afterward be cut or raveled away and removed.

The welt fabric may extend for any desired number of courses, for instance to include sufiicient courses to form a Welt W of the proportions shown in Fig. 1 or until course 28 is reached, when the welt will be completed by knitting the uniting course Z upon all the needles A and all the needles B to connect by said uniting course the beginning andv end of the welt. As soon as the loops 2. of the said course are formed they are withheld upon their needles, for instance in the same manner as above eX- plained in the case of the same needles and the loops w duringtheknitting upon the needles B of the locking fabric X. The fabric X being completed the needles B are restored to operation, the needles A being operated to drop their loops, for instance to cast off all of the loops in the course :0 prior to supplying yarns to said needles A. This operation may take place independently of the restoration of the needles B then withholding the loops 2 to operation to knit the fabric T, but I prefer to cast off from the A needles in succession after they have completed the fabric X and before the needles B near them are operated in succession-to knit the course 32 of the fabric T. The fabric will 'be retained upon the needles during the interval between casting off and resumingz-knitting on the needles of the otlien set: by the engagement of the loops 2 with the needles holding them.

The tendency of the fabric X to curl toward the face side holds its last course or courses, when thereis more than one course, or each of its loops, when there is only one course, against the backs of the needles. When the needles A upon which it isknit are retired empty said fabric moves for ward into line with or in advance of the line of needles, an effect which secures the said terminal loops by their penetration through the subsequent fabric is suflicient to prevent any accidental strain fromstarting the raveling of the locking fabric X. Ordinary strain of use is wholly insufficient to thus cause raveling.

The yarn of course 00 will extend as at J from the last loop of said course to the first loop of the course 32 of the fabric T. Ordinarily the fabric X will be confined to a single course or two courses, although I" may knit a part of it as one or more courses and another part of 1t as two or more courses, depending upon convenience 1n the order of operating the parts of the instrument of manufacture, as when using an antomatic circular machine, for instance of a type the mechanical design of which may make it inconvenient to begin and end all of the operations at the same pair of adj acent needles.

The fabric T, which for some articles may constitute the entire remaining fabric, may for a mans stocking, as illustrated in Fig. 1, extend a sufficient distance to produce substantially the proportions shown. The Welt fabric W and the fabric T may be knit of the same yarn and substantially the same length of loop, or if desired the yarn or the stitch length, or both may bechanged during the course 012, 00 or the course 32. Having completed the fabric T, for instance by forming a course 120, Fig. 3, the needles A will be restored to action, in the instance shown, to knit the leg L of the stocking. The fabric following said coursel2O may be knit of a different yarn, or with shorter loops, or both. A preferred arrangement of yarns is that indicated in Fig. 3, which is a diagram failing to show the relative proportions of the diameters of yarn for clearness. The top fabric T, indicated 'in solid black. is knit of heavier yarn than the leg fabric L, the heavy yarn being continued into the leg fabric through at least the first course as at 121. knit upon all of the needles A and B, in order that the heavy yarn may .ing

aid in reducing the size of the eyelet-holes it formed in the wales a bythe introduction of the needles A at this point. The .size of the eyelet hole will be determined byv the extent to which the strain downward in wales a is resisted by the sinker-wales between wales b in said first course 121 of the fabric L.

- Referring now to Fig. 4, as pointed out above, in some cases it may be inconvenient to begin and end all of the operations of needles A and B upon the same adjacent needles as shown for the preferred fabric of Fig. 3, especially when the knitting is upon a circular automatic knitting machine havasfew cam adjusting movements as possible. I may, in order to save adjusting parts, construct a part only of the article in a circumferential sense as shown in Fig. 3, and at the left hand side of Fig. 4, making the remainder-of the article as illustrated at the right hand side of Fig. 4. In this case a course 1 may be laid as before and the course 2 may contain the withheld loops w for a part of the periphery, for instance, referring to Fig. 2, throughout the part of the fabric represented by the long butt needles shown in solid black. For a circular stocking knitting machine, this may be substantially one-half the needles corresponding to the instep part of the stocking. At and followingthe leading low butt needle B5 in the direction in which knitting proceeds upon the circle of needles, for instance in the direction opposite to the arrow 7 of Fig. 2, the short butt needles may be operated to knit a second time without withholding any loops to fasten down the welt, said loops being withheld as shown at w from the third course in this part of the fabric, 2'. e. that produced by the short butt needles. The knitting of the welt 'w proceeds from this point as described above.

When knitting the uniting course Z the operation may again be initiated at the leading short butt needle B which draws the loop a, and the said operation may continue, through the short butt needles, forming a,

second course on all of the short-butt needles, as shown at Z. The course w in this case may begin at the leading long butt needle B (on the opposite side of the fabric from that shown in Fig.4), the first course 32 of the fabric T also beginning at the said needle B The fabric structure comprising the loops w, the course Z and Z is in this case one course longer at the part of the fabric knit upon the short butt needles than at the part knit upon the lon butt needles. This difference is inapprecia le in stockings of a usual gage and is of no detriment to the article. It will be understood that for clearness in Figs. 3 and 4 the vertical and lateral relations of the needle loops are much-extended.

' or different; roups of b wales.

' I have indicated in Fig. 2 by the showing of short jacks j and long jacks 7' those needles belonging to the series A and the series B which may be rendered alternately operative during the making of the welt, and the making of the attached fabric. For automatic machine manufacture, the needles A may be provided with long jacks, and the machine may be provided with devices causing the needles with short jacks to pass into the knitting cams and knit or under the knitting cams to withhold their loops, whereas the machine may be provided with devices to cause the long jack needles A to pass into the cams to knit, or to be retracted beneath the knitting cams after having their latches cleared through their loops to cast off. When the needles Bare retired to hold the loops w the needles A mayknit the welt fabric; all of the needles will be operated to knit the uniting course or courses; the needles B may be again retired to hold loops 2 during knitting of the fabric X on needles A; and the needles A may be retired empty during the knitting of the fabric '1 on the needles B.

While in each of the illustrative instances above given I have disclosed fabric in which there are the same number of Wales a. as wales b, alternately arranged, it will be evident without further description that different numbers of wales a and wales b may be employed, so that a wale of one kind would stand between two of the other kind,

for instance, or so that recurrent groups of adjacent a wales might alternate with like It will also be evident t at the uniting loop fabric of course Z or Z may in some cases be several courses in length, without depriving the fabric of its improved qualities.

What I claim is:

1. A knit fabric havingan integral outturned welt, the welt fabric having needle wales corresponding to sinker wales of the attached fabric.

2. In a knit fabric, a welt, an attached portion, and a uniting course having one needle loop in each needle wale of both said arts.

3. A knit fabric having an integral outturned welt, the welt fabric having sinker wales corresponding to needle wales of the attached fabric, and needle wales corresponding to sinker Wales of the attached fabric.

4:. A knit fabric having an integral outturned welt, said welt and the attached part of said fabric having the same number of wales of knit loops, the welt fabric having sinker wales corresponding to needle wales of the attached fabric, and needle wales corresponding to sinker wales of the attached fabric.

5. A knit article of plain fabric having a welt united thereto by a course containing loops in all of the needle wales of the adjacent part of the article, said course having other loops engaging a course of the welt fabric. r

6. Ina knit fabric, a section having wales terminating in cast-01f loops passed through and frictionally held by the sinker wales ofzadjacent fabric. 1

7. In a knit fabric, a welt and an attached portion each having therein a certain numbenof needle-Wales, said fabric having at the junction of the welt and the attached fabric a uniting course in which the number of needle loops is the aggregate of said certain numbers.

8. .In a knit fabric, an integral welt, united to the attached fabric by a course having needleloops in wales suppressed in nearby courses, said. loops being locked against ravelin'g by the inclusion of their terminal loops between loops of the attached fabric.

9. A knit article having a welt united thereto by a course containing loops in all the needle wales of the adjacent part of the article, said course also having needle loops continuing those of the last course of the i a series of needles comprising forming a course having loops withheld upon recurrent ineedles; then knitting fabric for a welt at intervening needles; then knitting a uniting course having a needle loop at each of the needles so far employed, then knitting and 5. casting off looking fabric at said intervening needles in continuation of loops of said .uniting course and thereafter knitting an .jextent .of fabric at said recurrent needles, said last mentioned operation including enagement of the terminal,loops of locking fabric between parts of said extent of fabric.

17. The art of knitting welted fabrics one welt fabric; and one or more courses of fabric knit in continuation'of said last mentioned loops only.

10. A knit article having a welt united thereto by a course containing initial loops of all the needle wales of the adjacent part of the article, said course also comprising loops penetrating the last course of welt fabric; and having one or more courses of fabric knit in continuation of said last mentioned loops only.

11. A knit stocking having a body of fabric containing a certain number of needle and sinker wales, a top continuous therewith having fewer needle wales and sinker wales, and an outturned welt having the same number of needle wales and sinker wales as said top, the needle wales of the welt being in line with the sinker wales of the top.

12. A 'knit stocking having a body of fabric containing a certain number of needle and sinker wales, a top continuous therewith having fewer needle wales and sinker wales, and an integral outturried welt having the same number of needle Wales and sinker wales as said top, the needle wales of the well: being in line with the sinker wales of the top, and a uniting course joining said welt and top having knit loops in the needle wales of the top and the Welt respectively.

13. The art of knitting welted fabrics on a series of needles comprising knitting fabric for the welt at recurrent needles distributed among the others, during the retention upon intervening needles of withheld loops,

Q needles so I vnuance which said Withheld loops were retained.

14. The art of knitting welted fabrics on a series of needles comprising forming a course having loops withheld upon recurrent needles; then knitting fabric for a welt at intervening needles; then knitting a uniting course having a needle loop at each of the ar employed, and thereafter knitting an extent of fabric at said recurrent needles.

15. The art of knitting welted fabrics on a series of needles comprising forming a course having loops withheld upon recurrent needles; then knitting fabric for a welt ;at intervening needles; T uniting course having a needle loop at each of the needles so far employed, then knitting locking fabric at said intervening needles in continuation of loops of said uniting course, and thereafter knitting an then knitting a extent of fabric at said recurrent needles. 16. The art of knittingwelted fabrics on a series of needles comprising knitting fabric for the welt at recurrent needles distributed among the others, during retention upon intervening needles of'withheld loops, thereafter knitting a uniting course engaging said withheld loops and the last course of welt fabric, then knitting one or more courses of locking fabric at the said recurrent needles, casting off said locking courses, permitting the terminal loops to pass forward between the needles at the location of the needles upon which said loops were formed and thereafter knitting attached fabric frictionally engaging said terminal loops at those needles only upon whichi'said withheld loops were retained:

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribin witnesses.

. TOBERT W. SCOTT.

Witnesses:

RUTH A. Home, W. J. HAGERTY. 

